


Take care of yourself

by fakebodies



Category: Tron (Movies)
Genre: Gen, ram and tron are both ok: the au, well they're kind of ok
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-13
Updated: 2016-08-13
Packaged: 2018-08-08 13:14:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7759171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fakebodies/pseuds/fakebodies





	1. Chapter 1

Ram comes to in a disoriented haze, squeezing his eyes shut against the glow around him. There was a dull ache in his chest and holes in his memories, but even with his eyes closed he could tell he was home. Ram smiles slightly when he feels the all too familiar pull towards an I/O tower. He pushes himself to his feet, already making plans to track down Tron after checking in with his User.

RKleinberg patches his code and tells him he'd been gone a long time, that the system had changed greatly while he'd been down for the count. Ram frowns slightly as he listens- RKleinberg sounds _tired_. Even when he hadn't been sleeping Ram could tell his User was happy. Something awful had happened, Ram knew it.

 _"-and things have just been kinda wild, bud."_ his User sighs. _"Flynn disappeared a little bit ago and everything's been a mess since. I mean, his poor kid... and Alan, he's been so stressed out trying to cover everything."_

Ram's frown deepens. Flynn had disappeared? What did that mean for Tron? For the whole system?

_"I don't know what's gonna happen, the media's been jumping all over this, 'cause Flynn was never exactly responsible- he wasn't a bad guy either, don't get me wrong... It's just kind of hard to look at this objectively, you know? He was my friend, but he still left us all behind for...for something."_

"User RKleinberg?" Ram blinks up into the light of the tower.

_"Yeah, Ram?"_

Ram pauses for a moment, debating whether or not he should speak freely. In the end, he smiles tiredly and tells his User to take care of himself.

 _"I- yeah, I should probably get some sleep. Take care of yourself too, Ram."_ his User laughs tiredly.

Ram leaves the I/O tower more concerned than when he went in.

* * *

 

Ram quickly learned that Flynn's disappearance meant nothing good. The system was deteriorating and many programs were being abandoned by their Users. Ram watches nervously, reminded more and more of the MCP. All the listless programs obeying age-old, unnecessary functions, all the empty homes and broken buildings... He hates seeing what's happening.

Ram learned as well that it was one thing to derezz a program yourself- it was another thing altogether to watch a program be deleted by their User. It was becoming more and more common, and Ram quickly distanced himself from the more populated sectors. At least RKleinberg regularly kept in touch...

He finds a friend in another program who remembers Tron, a tower guardian named Dumont. Ram spends most of his time in Dumont's tower, speaking with him about the Users, about the fate of their system, about all the programs they'd lost. Ram hates not being able to do anything. There was no big bad program to stop this time, it was just the Users and a decaying world. Even Dumont has stopped mentioning the will of the Users.

Ram's surprised when his User contacts him without starting to work on his code. He frowns when RKleinberg talks about taking him out of the system.

_"They're talking about completely changing things, and I really don't want to lose you. There's been talk about people getting fired too- I'm not exactly in a position of power here, so I don't know when else I'll get to save all of you."_

"Where will you transfer me?"

_"Just to a drive, until I'm able to get things set up. It probably won't be too long."_

Ram nods, steeling himself. "Ready for transfer."

There's no response from his User, the world simply goes white around him as Ram starts to fall.

 

* * *

Things are dull for a while. Ram has no real purpose anymore, but his User continues to update his code and speak with him. Ram hears all about the Flynn Lives movement, always excited when RKleinberg tells him they've found a new lead. Nothing solid ever turns up, but Ram doesn't lose hope.

He's glad AlanOne and his User are still friends, and he's glad so many people believe in Flynn. Ram's sure Flynn wouldn't disappear like this on purpose. Things continue on without any real success, though, until his User calls to him. RKleinberg sounds tired, but not like he did before the old system started deteriorating. He sounds hopeful.

_"Sam's doing really well, and Alan seems happier. Flynn's gone, he's really gone, which is kind of hard to wrap my head around... Still, I'm probably going to go back to Encom."_

Ram smiles as he listens, happy for his User.

_"If I do go back I'll probably bring you with, just for old time's sake."_

"Thank you, User RKleinberg."

_"Don't mention it."_

Ram is excited when he's transferred again, looking forward to seeing how the Encom system has changed. With AlanOne and Flynn's son at the helm, Ram's sure it's doing wonderfully. 

He wakes up to a new world, taking in all the new scenery. It still feels like Encom, but it's so drastically different. There aren't many programs around either, but there are still I/O towers dotted across the land, the familiar beams lighting up the sky. Ram goes to speak to his User, grateful he's back home.

"User RKleinberg?"

_"Hey, I'm glad you're up and running. Let's make sure everything moved alright."_

Ram nods, grinning up at the light above him- he can tell his User is smiling, he's glad things are going back to normal.

_"Things are looking pretty good for Encom, Ram. I'm definitely happy to be back now that management is, well, I definitely like Alan. It's a nice place to work again. Sam's doing really well too, moving things forward."_

Ram listens as RKleinberg talks, rolling his shoulders. He knows it'll be strange without Flynn back as well, but he'll take what he can get. His User is happy and he's home, and that's what's important.

_"Oh, and Alan got a backup of Tron from Sam. Sam said it might be a little buggy, but after everything that's happened Alan's just grateful to have any copy of his program. Hopefully he'll be able to get Tron running smoothly, it'd be nice to have a familiar security system in place around here."_

Ram freezes, eyes going wide. Tron was coming back? RKleinberg said he was buggy, but...well, it was Tron. His friend. Ram wouldn't even care if it was a backup from before they'd met. He says goodbye to his User and ventures out, thoughts racing. He can't wait to see Tron again, buggy or not.


	2. Chapter 2

Ram waits anxiously for Tron to be reuploaded. There are so many things that could go wrong, but he can't help being excited. His User keeps him updated, both in his coding and about events in the User world. Things were changing fast, but this time for the better. Ram's on his way to an I/O tower when he hears a noise behind him, pausing. It definitely wasn't a normal background noise for this place. He's about to start moving again when someone speaks up behind him.

"Ram?"

Ram whips around, eye's wide. That voice was raspy and weaker than he remembered, but Ram knew for certain who it belonged to.

"Tron? You're back!" Ram breaks into a grin, pulling his friend into a hug. "RKleinberg said your User was going to bring you back!"

"I- yes. He did a lot of work." Tron disentangles himself from the hug, looking Ram over. "You haven't changed."

"Nah, RKleinberg kept me mostly the same, just made sure I stayed up to date. He was pretty busy for a while though, working on Flynn Lives. Encom got pretty bad." Ram shrugs.

"Flynn... lives?"

"It was a User movement trying to find Flynn after he disappeared. RKleinberg was at the head of it all." Ram nods. "They did some pretty cool things."

"Flynn was on the Grid. Were the other Users not aware?" Tron frowns, glancing around them.

"'The grid?' Tron, what's the grid? No one knew where Flynn was, the old system decayed after he left. Only Dumont and I remembered you, remembered everything that happened. What was Flynn doing?"

"Building."

"What were _you_ doing?"

"Nothing." Tron bites out, turning away to look out across the system.

"Sorry." Ram frowns. "Listen, I'm going to speak with my User. I'll see you around."

Tron just nods, not looking back at the other program. Ram sighs, walking away from his friend. What all had happened? He can tell things have changed with Tron, that whatever happened on the Grid was far from good, but Tron had never acted like this before. Hopefully speaking with his User will help clear things up. Ram always felt better afterwards.

* * *

RKleinberg had told him that Alan had been having trouble with Tron's code. That whatever had happened had messed up so much that Alan wasn't sure Tron'd ever be back to how he was again. Still, Ram wouldn't just abandon his friend. Even if things had changed, Ram wasn't going to just walk away without trying to help.

Tron usually dodged or ignored questions about the Grid, so Ram's surprised when he receives an actual answer. They're sitting on a ledge, watching the sky, when Ram asks again.

"Could you tell me a little about the Grid? Even if it's just good stuff?" he lays back, folding his arms under his head. "I'll tell you stuff about here after. We can swap stories."

"It was darker than here. Everything was some shade of grey, with glowing accents. There were new functions on the Grid as well. Flynn created many things, new buildings and vehicles and tools. He was the only User there."

"You weren't able to speak with AlanOne anymore?" Ram frowns, leaning up on his elbows.

"No."

"I...that's awful."

"It took some getting used to." Tron gives Ram a small smile.

"That's probably why none of the other Users knew where he went, huh?"

Tron nods, sighing. "He thought he was infallible."

"Of course he did, he's Flynn." Ram scoffs. "Dumont said he dove into the MCP."

"It was a fault on the Grid. He underestimated his programs."

"And things went downhill?" Ram's smile fades.

"Faster than you could say 'User.'" Tron nods, glancing at the smaller program.

"I'm sorry, Tron."

"There was nothing you could've done, Ram."

"I should've done _something_."

"What would you have done? It was too big an enemy."

"I would've fought." Ram sits up fully, frowning.

"And if I couldn't fight with you?"

"I wouldn't have stopped."

Tron nods, turning back to the landscape before them. "I'm glad you weren't there."

"Well, I'm glad you're _here_. I worried about you."

"You're a good program, Ram." Tron smiles tiredly.

"So're you."

* * *

Ram helps Tron with the tasks AlanOne gives him, glad to be doing something again. He learns bits and pieces about Flynn's Grid while he and Tron talk, in turn telling Tron about what happened in his absence. He leaves out some things, mainly what it was like to hear a User delete a program while waiting to use an I/O tower. No program deserves that fate, let alone to know about it. Tron tells him he's glad RKleinberg had transferred Ram, and Ram says he's glad AlanOne was able to bring Tron back.

Ram asks what happened to his voice one day and Tron glares out at nothing in particular. Ram is starting to feel like he really shouldn't have asked when Tron speaks.

" _Clu_."

"Clu?"

"Flynn's program, created in his image."

"Oh. Can I ask-"

"-No."

"Alright." Ram nods, turning his attention to the beam they were heading towards. They've almost arrived when Tron speaks again, not looking at Ram.

"He wasn't a good program."

"I didn't think he was." Ram shakes his head.

"He hurt people."

"He sounds awful." Ram touches Tron's arm. "I'm sorry."

"For what? Tron glances down at him, frowning.

"For whatever he did. You don't need to tell me specifics for me to know it was terrible."

"Ah. Thank you, Ram."

"Any time, Tron. You're my friend." Ram smiles, entering the I/O tower behind Tron.

 


	3. Chapter 3

It took cycles before Ram ever learned what Clu really did. In the time that passed the system had grown and changed, programs had filled it and RKleinberg continued to tell Ram about how Encom was doing. He was glad things were going so well for the Users and grateful he'd been allowed to continue assisting Tron. He hadn't felt the need to ask about Flynn's Grid with the new jobs cropping up for them, but he could still tell something was bothering Tron. It's during their downtime that Tron asks if he'd like to go out to the ledge where they'd first talked about what had happened. Of course Ram had agreed, smiling warmly at his friend. Tron had looked... uncomfortable.

Ram learned why when Tron told him about what Clu had done. About Rinzler, and about what had really happened to Flynn. Ram frowns as he listens, Tron not looking at him as he speaks. Hearing about everything makes Ram's gut twist, he can hardly believe Flynn had sat by and done nothing until Sam showed up. When he finishes, Tron takes a deep breath, hanging his head. Ram reaches out, rubbing Tron's back.

"Okay."

"Okay?" Tron looks up, frowning.

"Yeah, okay. That doesn't change anything. You're here, you're my friend, and that's all in the past." Ram nods.

"I...really?"

"Really." Ram smiles. "All that's happened is I like Clu even less than I did when you first mentioned him, and I think Flynn did some pretty idiotic stuff. You're still Tron, the program who fights for the Users and refuses to rest enough and stands up for what he believes in."

Tron gives Ram an incredulous smile, shaking his head. "You're too good."

"Nah, I'm just an actuarial program who cares about his friends."

"You're certain this won't change anything."

"Absolutely certain." Ram nods.

"Thank you, Ram."

"Don't worry about it. Just promise me you'll take care of yourself."

"I will." Tron smiles tiredly.

"Good. I'm gonna hold you to that, okay?"

"Okay."

"I'm really glad you're back." Ram smiles, watching an I/O tower light up in the distance. Tron nods, following Ram's gaze.

"So am I."


End file.
